A number of support systems for wall mounting of articles have been developed which comprise an article holder detachably mountable on a wall mount. Pertinent examples of such article supports include the supports disclosed in applicant's prior Canadian Pat. No. 917,505; the supports disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,896,769 (Davis et al.), 3,019,709 (Teason), 3,297,075 (Howell et al.); and the supports disclosed in the British specification No. 885,372 (Seckerson et al.).
However, except for applicant's supports referred to above, none of the prior art supports of which applicant is aware are particularly suited to the support of pictures and the like on walls because they do not provide holders which are both readily attachable and detachable and readily lockable so as to prevent unintended or unauthorized detachment of the holders.
For example, the T-shaped double bayonet slot arrangement of the Davis et al. fasteners allows the fastener to be attached and detached to a mounting strip only by axially sliding the fastener onto the strip at one of the ends thereof. As a result, a particular fastener cannot be removed without first removing any other fasteners which are disposed between the fastener and the end of the mounting strip from which the fastener is to be removed.
In the case of the Teason bracket, the mounting arrangement thereof allows the bracket to be readily suspended from the clamp, but does not allow the bracket to be locked onto the clamp; while in the case of the Howell et al. support arrangement, the snap-locking feature thereof allows a decorating fixture to be readily attached to a support member by snap-locking, but is not adapted to facilitate detachment of the fixture once it has been attached to the support member.
Further, although applicant's earlier supports mentioned hereinabove provide a more efficacious combination of mounting and locking features than other prior art supports known to applicant, the utility of each embodiment thereof is limited in particular situations. The locking feature of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2-7 of the aforementioned Canadian patent does not prevent removal of a rod from a molding if the rod is displaced in the proper combination of movements, and the locking features of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 8-15 require specialized locking members which complicate the manufacture of the supports. Further, applicant's earlier supports are capable of supporting articles only below the mounting moulding. As a consequence, neither the moulding nor the support members can be readily concealed.